Senior pours in 31 points in win

HAMILTON — Butte Central answered the wake-up call in a big way Saturday morning.

The Maroons beat Columbia Falls 74-62 in a loser-out game at the Hamilton Middle School, sending BC to the Class A State tournament next week in Great Falls.

First, BC will take on Frenchtown in the third-place game of the Western A Divisional tournament at 3 p.m. today. The Broncs beat Browning 65-54 in the other loser-out game on the Dale Berry Court.

BC and Frenchtown will join Dillon and Ronan, who will play in tonight’s title game, at the State tournament.

This marks the 19th time in 22 years under head coach Brodie Kelly that the Maroons will play in the Class A State tournament. They shared the title with Hardin in 2020 and won it outright in 2022.

Butte Central used a strong first and fourth quarter to keep its season alive until the final weekend of the 2025-26 season. Central opened the game with a 19-3 run to take the lead for good.

When Columbia Falls bounced back to cut the lead to two, at 51-49, after three quarters, Central opened the final frame with 16 straight points. Joshua Sutton started the run with a 3-pointer. Ryan Peoples followed with three long balls in that stretch.

Peoples, a senior, scored a career-high 31 points in the win. He scored 19 points in the second half, including 12 in the fourth quarter.

Peoples’ game also included four 3-pointers, helping the Maroons tie for the second-best 3-point shooting performance in team history. The 14 made 3-pointers by BC tied with the 2008 Maroons, who made 14 against Lewistown.

The record of 19 made threes was set by BC last season.

Sutton and Jaxon Hiatt each hit four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points. Cade Kelly added a trey and scored nine points.

GG Fantini also scored two points for the Maroons, who got contributions from Noah Sutton, Burkley Lakkala and Henly Mansanti as the team improved to 17-4 on the season.

Bjorn Pedersen scored 20 points to pace the Wildcats, who close the season at 15-6. Jory Hill scored 12 points, while Easton Brooks netted 11 and Jett Pitts tossed in 10. Columbia Falls also got seven by Caleb Mee and two from Nico Young.

COLUMBIA FALLS (15-6) — Easton Brooks 4 3-5 11, Jett Pitts 4 0-0 10, Jory Hill 5 0-0 12, Bjorn Pedersen 8 0-2 20, Rhett Lindskoog 0 0-0 0, Nico Young 1 0-0 2, Joe West 0 0-0 0, Caleb Mee 3 0-1 7. Totals 25 3-8 62.
BUTTE CENTRAL (17-4) — Ryan Peoples 11 5-12 31, Cade Kelly 3 2-2 9, Joshua Sutton 6 0-2 16, GG Fantini 1 0-0 2, Jaxon Hiatt 5 2-2 16, Noah Sutton 0 0-0 0, Burkley Lakkala 0 0-0 0, Henly Mansanti 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 9-18 74.
C. Falls           11        17        21        13 — 62
Central           24        16        11        21 — 74
3-point goals — CF 9 (Pedersen 4, Hill 2, Pitts 2, Mee), BC 13 (Peoples 4, Hiatt 4, Sutton 4, Kely). Fouls — CF 20, BC 10. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.